Marianne Elliott | Open Space Practice, (AKA: A Thousand Shades of Gray)

1. Things I would like to do with You: the Book, a Kickstarter Project from the founder of The Elephant Journal.

2. Daily Dharma Gathering. This is how I start every morning. It began as a three month project, but Susan Piver and Lodro Rinzler have decided to continue it through the end of the year. “The DDG offers a new meditation from a great teacher every single day. Each session will begin with a short talk followed by a 10-15 minute meditation and a brief q&a.”

3. 10 Things You Must Give Up to Get Yourself Back on Track from Marc and Angel Hack Life.

4. Things I learned from my dad, in chronological order.

5. The Art of Motherfuckitude: Cheryl Strayed’s Advice to an Aspiring Writer on Faith and Humility on Brain Pickings.

6. 30 Days of Courage course with Marianne Elliott. It starts today and registration closes this evening, so go now! If you missed the series of posts leading up to the start of the course, you can find them here.

7. On being digital hoarders by Paul Jarvis.

8. Where Do I Even Begin? on Allowing Myself.

9. Just keep going from Caren Baginski.

10. The Doggy Dog Truth from Laurie Wagner.

11. Offer Your Depression, Susan Piver on Lion’s Roar.

12. Nadia Bolz-Weber’s good news by Kirsten Akens.

13. These two spaces showcased on SF Girl by Bay are so peaceful: One Fine Stay and The Slope of Things to Come.

14. Day in the Life — Camping, shared on Chookooloonks this was a good week.

15. Lessons learned from nine years of blogging from Susannah Conway.

16. Caitlin Gill at Snap Judgment LIVE! in Ann Arbor, “The Minivan.”

17. The Time When We’ll Be Present & Content from Zen Habits.

18. Good stuff from Susannah’s Something for the Weekend list: the picture she used for the post is so dreamy, and this Chicken and Dumplings recipe, and this post on Elephant Journal, Why Sensitive Souls Need Rituals.

image by Eric

1. BROKEN SAVIORS: Alien Invasion Comic Book Kickstarter project. 12 days to go, and so close.

2. 3 Ways to Make Your Life Simple and Successful Again from Marc and Angel Hack Life.

3. May my suffering be of service from Danielle LaPorte.

4. A series of guest posts about courage hosted by Marianne Elliott.

5. Does Intuitive Eating mean eating whatever and whenever you feel like it? ~Guest post by Terri Barger on Eat to Love.

6. Listening to your Life from Rachel Cole.

7. The Limitless Living Course from Caroline Leon. FREE.

8. When Others Frustrate You and A Simple, Powerful Self-Compassion Method from Zen Habits.

9. Heart-opener from Guinevere Gets Sober.

10. The Just F*cking Journal Class: April 20-24, 2015 from Jamie Greenwood. FREE.

11. RAIN by Teah Strozer on Tricycle, which says,

Getting started on a spiritual path takes guts. We usually don’t know it in the beginning, but if we keep going on it — if we really want to know the truth of what it means to be human or if we are deeply finished with our suffering — we will learn that walking the path of freedom takes a humble courage. It also takes determination, humor, a balanced effort, and the willingness to feel, directly in our body, the suffering brought by attachment to our conditioned thoughts, which create separation, dis-ease, and the greed and aversion we usually use to seek happiness. But the promise is real. We can be free of suffering; we can know our wide-awake mind and the open heart that goes with it.

12. Why I Seldom Teach The Hero’s Journey Anymore — And What I Teach Instead.

13. The “Food Babe” Blogger Is Full of Shit. And in related news, The “Food Babe” Strikes Back At Her Critics.

14. Grief is the Price We Pay for Love.

15. How BMI affects emotional eating from Isabel Foxen Duke.

16. Perpetual Potential Thin Person from Dances with Fat.

17. Blue Mood on SF Girl by Bay.

18. Devotion to myself? on The Art of Wildness.

19. 3 selfies shared by Chris Rock are just one more way he’s demonstrating racism still exists.

20. This family is ‘blissfully enjoying life on the slow road, with no end in sight.’

21. Good stuff on Bored Panda: Mom Captures Powerful Photos Of Her Fearless Daughters To Show That ‘Strong Is The New Pretty’ and Incredible Miniature Paintings Of Galaxies, Animals And Books By Lorraine Loots.

22. The psychology of mean bosses is so fascinating you’ll wish this 2-minute video was 20 minutes long.

23. Wisdom from Pema Chödrön,

Many of our escapes are involuntary: addiction and dissociating from painful feelings are two examples. Anyone who has worked with a strong addiction—compulsive eating, compulsive sex, abuse of substances, explosive anger, or any other behavior that’s out of control—knows that when the urge comes on it’s irresistible. The seduction is too strong. So we train again and again in less highly charged situations in which the urge is present but not so overwhelming. By training with everyday irritations, we develop the knack of refraining when the going gets rough. It takes patience and an understanding of how we’re hurting ourselves not to continue taking the same old escape route of speaking or acting out.

24. 20 Great Writers on Motivating Yourself To Write, No Matter What.

25. 4 Myths About Police Brutality We Need To Stop Spreading Right Now.

26. Louis CK’s impression of Jimmy Fallon = the best thing ever. In related news, 4 years ago, Louis C.K. went on ‘Conan’ and told a story that explains why we love him.

27. I love big book news and I cannot lie! from Brene’ Brown.

28. for love of liberation on Lists and Letters.

29. Beware of Tribal Shame! from Elizabeth Gilbert on Facebook.

30. Shared on Susannah’s Something for the Weekend list: 10 Success Secrets of the Highly-Creative, and 7 Reasons Your Wife Is Stressed Out All the Time, and The rise of the death doula.

31. This Woman Was Reunited With A Gorilla After 12 Years. What Happened Next Will Tear Your Heart Out.

32. Body Talk. (Thanks to Rachel for sharing).

33. Advice From Former Racist: ‘If You Hear Something Racist, F–king Stand Up and Take Responsibility.’ I can’t stop thinking about this video. Such wisdom from a completely unexpected place.

34. The Floor In His Apartment Is Covered In Bread. When I Saw Why? I Was Choking Back Tears.

35. “In many shamanic societies, if you came to a medicine person complaining of being disheartened, dispirited, or depressed, they would ask one of four questions…” on Elephant Journal. It’s from a few years ago now, but it always makes me stop and think.